Here is the interview I conducted with FairyTale Amber. As always, click on the banner to be taken to her site.
Enjoy!
Basic information.
Can you please tell the people reading this your name? Hello, I write as FairyTaleAmber.
Where do you like to post, and can you give us the site of your preferred medium? The Writer’s Coffee Shop, Fanfiction and my own site, fairytaleamber.wordpress.com. That is my go-to spot.
What do you prefer, Tea or Coffee? Coffee, yum! All hours of the day and night.
What is your favorite beverage of choice? And if alcoholic and mixed, what are the ingredients? Coca-Cola, as for alcoholic, I love a good wine. Pinot Grig but Reds are yummy too!
What is your funny story about trying something to drink and it rocked your boat and/or sucked? I was twenty-five and in my mind officially an adult. Tried a mocha for the first time and fell madly in love. They mix chocolate and caffeine? Who knew?
What foods do you love? Italian, definitely Italian. There is always room for pasta and bread.
What is your go to food for comfort? Popcorn, salt and buttery and you can add chocolate to that too for an explosion of flavor. Actually, I have to amend that, depending on the emotional issue, I hit the hard stuff: Cookie Dough Ice Cream!
What do you like to snack when writing? Popcorn, sure, chocolate definitely. Especially when it comes to the smuttier part of the story. It seems to work just perfectly.
Is there a scent that says home to you? Clean Linen and Vanilla
Is there a scent you wish you never smelled ever? Burnt hair mixed with popcorn. Ugh! Maybe even the smell of some cooked veggies. I like most things but those smells are nasty.
If you could visit a place, anywhere, where would it be? Europe, come on it’s full of history and culture. And probably some snobs who hate Americans, it would be my pleasure to kill them with kindness.
If you could go at any point in time, which would it be? Good question…just one time period? I would ask for the secret third option of a time machine so that I may travel to many different times. Just no getting hung up in the past. I can leave whenever I damn well please!
What music do you like? I have eclectic tastes, Pop, Rock-n-Roll, Classical, Opera, Rap, depends on my mood and the tone I want to set in the story.
Is there a genre or song you hate? What the song about the guy singing about a douche? From the seventies. Oh, so gross!
Tell us something about yourself that you think your fans would love to know about: I am an artist. Before I became a writer (less than a year ago) my art was sold worldwide and in local galleries. I have recently moved and in the process of making connections locally to start again. I love to paint, it is the time when I feel I am doing what I was always meant to. Writing is right there, I would have been too afraid to jot my ideas down if not for the encouragement of my writer friends.
Thanks. That gives us some basic information. Now, about the writing – I know you’re excited…
Why did you start writing? Short story, I love the SVM/TB fandom. Been a faithful reader and follower/stalker for years. Then my faith was punished by the writers/creators and I thought…I don’t have to put up with this bullshit! I’ll write my own.
What do you enjoy the most about it? I am the one in control. Well actually that is not true. I have broad strokes of what I want or think will happen in any given story. Then chapter by chapter the characters demand what I do for them. I believe the term is call “author intrusion.” When you try to bend your players to your will instead of following the story they are telling. It’s a fine balance. The relationship I have created with Sookie and Eric is varied depending on if they want to tell me their story and if I want to listen.
What do you like least about it? Just like in painting, the muse is a fickle bitch. When she wants center stage in her shimmering glitter dress demanding attention through the loud speaker or when she draws the red velvet curtains and punishes me for having a life. She is the most frustrating woman I know. And yet, I grovel at her feet.
That first time hitting publish, how did you feel? Nervous excited! I had the workings of a number of chapters for months. Thinking I would just write Dead and Loving It! Out first before any publishing. My friend, MySecretO, nicely said, “No fucking way! Don’t wait! Do it! Do it! Do IT!” So I did, best decision I ever made.
Where do you get your inspiration? Where don’t I find inspiration? It is everywhere. The conversations I have with people, music I listen to, and movies I watch. Of course, I have a pretty good memory of cannon and know exactly where the writer’s started to piss me off. I call those the “easy pickings.” LOL!
What is your writing area like do you use computer or paper, or both? Or another medium? I am all about the electronics, Laptop, Desktop when hubby is using the Laptop for Law School and my phone. It is a great note taker when I’m out and the muse hits me upside the head with a scene or story.
Do you use an outline, rough draft or just write? Only my latest story have I just written. “A Brush With Death” Everyone else has a detailed outline, bios and rough drafts. I do not have a BETA, so I go in and edit multiple times before I publish.
What do you do while you’re writing (listen to music, TV in the background, etc.)? Either listen to music or sweet, sweet silence. I am one of those people easily distracted by shiny objects (hence, why my muse wears sparkly things to get my attention)
What annoys you the most when you are trying to write? Any distractions, my muse scowls and claws at anything that tries to drag me away.
If you have finished a fic, what was your feeling on it? My first thought is, “Are you sure? Is that all there is?” As a reader in and out of the fandom, I can feel when something was left incomplete. I don’t want my readers holding a letdown. I want to walk away from my experience happy. Glad I didn’t waste my time and energy chasing the story.
What are your favorite fandoms to write? True Blood and the Southern Vampire Mysteries, also known as the Sookie Stackhouse Novels.
Who are your favorite characters to write? Sookie and Eric
Why? For me they are the heart of this fandom. They were always meant to be and they have the most interesting take on the world around them.
Who are your least favorite characters to write? Bill or Niall, really any of the fairies.
Why? Bill is a bastard of the first order. His POV ends up being creepy. The Royal Fae? Well, they are a mystery to me. What are their powers? What are their motivations? Depending on the day, I couldn’t tell you. Eric doesn’t trust the Fae, and Sookie can be too naïve when someone says they are her family. All these characters are the epitome of manipulative and I don’t have the best eye for it.
What is your favorite scene or story you have written and why? Wow! One? Okay, let’s start with Dead and Loving It! Sookie is waiting for Eric at his home after Pam helped her get inside. She is nervous to tell Eric that she is in love with him and what her expectations are for their relationship. When he doesn’t have the reaction she thought, Sookie starts saying she will find a way to break the blood bond. That is when Eric loses it and tells her in short order that she is his! Emotional roller coaster and making love. What else is there? In case you haven’t read any of my work, I enjoy writing smut, yummy, lemon smut!
What is the most difficult story or scene you have written, and why? Oh boy, it was in Scratches. There was another character begging to save Godric but Sookie was the conduit for his redemption. Sharing blood and such with someone who is not your mate and everyone had a panic attack. The characters not the readers. Although there was some discussion concerning three-ways. Any-who. I wanted to get the tone just write before hitting publish. For me, if I can re-read something and not understand what the fuck is happening, why continue?
Do you see any characteristics in the characters you write? No and yes.
Which ones and whom? It’s like, I wish I had Eric’s confidence. He owns the room and everything in it without saying a word. Pam is underestimated and then she surprises me when she deals out a line or commits varied acts of violence without any remorse. Sookie is very tender-hearted and she lets that chip away at her self-esteem. Sometimes it really pisses me off and I have to think of ways to show Sookie who she can trust. Sometimes, it’s harder to trust yourself.
What do you like most about your preferred fandom? The supernatural aspect is amazing. So many species to play with and watch them interact with each other. Also, the idea of loving yourself. It’s easy to get sucked into your own head about not being good enough, smart enough, pretty enough. What it really comes down to, is that you were and will always be enough. Don’t let the hater’s hate and live the life you want.
How would you describe your fics? Emotionally satisfying-Smut-Action-Thrillers!
What story would you recommend of your own for a new fan to start first? “Don’t Say I Didn’t Warn Ya” It is a fun, dramatic short story. Try four chapters, all taking place in the book series where the Sookie Stackhouse I know would have made another choice when she found Eric drinking from Kim Rowe at his home.
Now the HARD questions:
If you could offer a suggestion to someone who is thinking of publishing their first story, what would it be? Don’t let that publish button stop you! There is a world you know you belong in and it is only a click away. Every writer I know, including myself, never regretted publishing their work and getting it out there. Go for it!
If you could go back in time, and give yourself one word of advice, what would you say? (No Lottery numbers or anything like that!!!) Life is short, do everything you are scared of and have no regrets.
What 5 stories would you recommend someone read? Please list fandom, sites and name with pairing.
Only 5? I’ll try, but there are so many!!! All from the fandom of SVM/TB:
*Love Eternal by Justwonderingneverlost, Eric and Sookie pairing
*The Big Bang by idream3223, Eric and Sookie paring
*Lover’s Amnesia by Gyllene, Eric and Sookie paring
*A Marriage of Inconvenience by Queen of Area Five, Eric and Sookie pairing
*Pour some sugar on me by BonTempsBaby, Eric and Sookie paring
So many others, just please go read everything. Start at the earliest time and work your way forward.
Is there something you wished I asked, and if so, what as well as the answer. There is, I hear this question a lot. I know other fandoms have this issue as well. “Do you think our fandom is dying?” My answer, “Fuck no!” I have been here since 2008 and I have seen my share of authors write, and then leave. Some go inactive for a while due to family responsibilities and others get excited about another fandom. Whatever the reason, those who stay are here because of how this world makes them feel. We are getting something here that we cannot get anywhere else. That makes this fandom special and worth weathering storms for.
Character Interview
Name of Character: Eric Northman
Story he is in: Dead and Loving it!
Is (s)he an original Character or a series known? Most definitely a series known character. Beloved and drooled over.
Are they in character or Out of Character? Yes, probably. I try to stick to cannon but then I can’t, there were just too many mistakes and no solving of the issues I cared about.
Nickname(s): Baby (Only for Sookie’s use)
Date of Birth: Well over 1000 year old Viking Vampire
Occupation: Regent of Louisiana.
Stats (Aka Height, hair color, eye color, and so on): Long blond hair that he can braid or sling back in a low ponytail. Glacial blue eyes, 6’4 ft tall, lean muscular build, handsome bordering on beautiful when he smiles.
Significant other(s): Sookie Stackhouse
Best Friend(s): Pam Ravencroft
Enemies(s): Victor, Bill, and Freyda
Any noticeable Scars, Tattoos, or other markings: He does have a mole, but Sookie has threatened me harm if I tell where it is located. 😉
If they could have a Theme Song, which would it be? Radioactive by Imagine Dragons. Why? This song embraces who you are and doesn’t back down. It’s like he is raised from the dead every dusk anew. Takes what he wants and never apologizes. Very Eric Northman, if you ask me.
What is their favorite Movie? Right now, it’s The Avengers. He loves Thor and marvels at these superhumans and supernatural creatures who try and fight together under the same cause. Political alliances and friendship.
What is something that the fans don’t know about your character? Eric is willing to sacrifice himself for the ones he loves. Pam has been a wonderful partner in crime and child. He hates to think what his life was like without her wit. Sookie is his tangible ray of sunshine. He has and will continue to go through a gambit of emotions but love and devotion for his mate is the thing he cannot live without. He would give up forever to save them, because without them, his life is meaningless. Now, don’t worry, Eric wants to stay around with them a very, very long time. That is why he is so ruthless in vampire politics.
For me to find a story to review, was hard. Because she has so many I am in love with!!! Seriously, go check her out!
Thanks for reading!
The Non-Canon Awards 